On losing her dad at a young age: "Matt [Lauer] asked me at dinner the other day, 'What would you say the impact of losing your dad so young was on you?' And I said ultimately it made me more sensitive and gentler, and, I hope, kinder. Of course it was terrible, and I think about him every day—but there's something about a dramatic event like that that makes you a bit more tender, a bit softer."

On Guthrie's connection to the TODAY audience: "We have a very intimate connection with the audience because of the hour and because of the kind of show it is. I am truly touched by [the devotion of the audience.] It's kind of moving, if you think about it."

On whether she and her fiancé Michael Feldman want to have children one day: "I would love to have kids. I hope so, if we're lucky and blessed, but who knows what life holds, you know? I'm 41 years old."

Matt Lauer, on why Guthrie is so successful: "She's real, she's smart, she's funny, she's self-deprecating, she's interested in a huge variety of subjects, she turns on a dime beautifully, she is curious, she's personable, she warms people up in a hurry, she kind of explodes on-screen. I mean, if you look back over the years at the people who have been successful in morning TV, she's kind of the combination of all of them."

To read the complete story, pick up the September issue of ELLE on newsstands August 20.